Dude In Love
by JudexJonesyOTP
Summary: Dude In Love All his friends had dates and relationships all the time. Jude was starting to feel left out, if not inexperienced. So when he catches the eye of the cute comic book store girl, he falls hard and fast. Watch mellow, goofy Jude play a part he's never filled before; boyfriend
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"I brought Stick-Its." Jude declared, placing a tray of saucy chicken stabbed with thin skewers on the food court table. His friends cautiously picked them up and carefully took a bite. "Lemon Ginger Chick-It Stick-Its."

"Wow, Jude, this is really good." Jen said, taking another bite and licking stray sauce off her finger.

"Thank you, Dudette" Jude sat down, kicking his feet up on their regular table, right next to the Big Squeeze.

"When did you make these?" Wyatt asked, finishing his off.

"Last night. Had nothing better to do." Jude admitted. His friends looked a bit sheepish. Jonesy and Nikki had gone to a movie, although if you called it a date, they might hit you. Caitlin and Jen were double-dating with some guys from the soccer team, and Wyatt was still hung up over Serena.

"Sorry, man." Jonesy said, slinging his arm over Nikki.

"No big, dude." Jude bit into his own Stick-It. Truth be told, he was starting to feel pretty lame. His friends went out all the time. Jonesy and Wyatt told stories about getting up this girls shirt, and that girls shorts, and he even overheard the girls talking about their own steamy makeout sessions. He had never even kissed a girl. I mean, a peck here and there, a game of spin the bottle or two, but no REAL kiss. As totally lame as it sounded, he wanted more than some hookup. He wanted something real. A totally awesome Betty he could chill with, watch movies, and hold hands as they skated across the park, not just someone to remove his virgin lip status.

"Woah, the Jones-meister's gotta motor. New job starts in ten minutes." Jonesy stood, pulling Jude out of his thoughts.

"Where are you at this week?" Caitlin asked from behind the lemon.

"Jinx Comics." Jonesy answered.

"Seriously? The comic book store?" Wyatt laughed.

"They don't just sell comics, they sell some sweet gear too. Like the zombie survival kit. Or the freeze dried ice cream." Jonesy defended, starting to walk away.

"I'll come with you, dude. I think I can treat myself to a new comic." Jude got up and they walked across the mall to the brightly lit store.

"Welcome to Jinx Comics, we herd it, you nerd it." The girl at the counter didn't even look up from the comic book in her lap. She was perched on the desk, one bare foot dangling down.

"Hi, Rose. Here for my first day." At this, the girl looked up. She had shoulder length brown hair, streaked with blonde and tied back. She wore thick tortoiseshell glasses over her hazel eyes that seemed larger than life. Her small rosebud mouth offset her alabaster skin. She was petite, clad in a black Avengers tank top and denim shorts. A pair of beat-up, doodled-on vans sat on the floor beside an army green knapsack. All in all, she looked somewhere between an adorable anime character, and a badass comic book heroine, a combination that was striking and sexy. She hopped off the counter, showing her hourglass frame as her tank top clung to her ribcage. Jude was struck speechless.

"Hey, Jonesy. Got your name tag right here." She handed over a name tag that he pinned it on and she showed him how to clock in, then told him to watch the counter. "And who are you?"

Jude had no voice. His jaw was hanging agape. He had never felt like this before, not when looking at any other hot girl. He was melting into the glittering pools of brown and green sparkling inside those huge eyes, the smile playing on her perfect little mouth. Jude wanted to see that smile every day for the rest of his life. She was still looking at him and waved her hand in front of his face. "You OK?"

"Hey." He finally mustered.

"Hey." She laughed. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Uh, sure, I mean, yeah." Jude mumbled.

"We just got a big box from Marvel, hot of the presses." He let her steer him towards a large cardboad box, which contained several smaller boxes. He saw that she had been in the middle of an Amazing Spiderman book.

"So, you're a Spiderman chick?" He managed to ask.

"Oh yeah. Although I don't know how I feel about the movie coming out. I'm more of an original animated series kind of girl." At this Jude's eyes lit up.

"Me too! I have like every one on tape!"

"I'm jealous!" They kept on chattering until Jonesy came over.

"I hate to interrupt the lovebirds," He began, making them blush, "But there's a customer and I have no idea how to help them." Rose stood and walked over to the customer, who was looking for a specific Suicide Squad comic. Jonesy elbowed Jude in the ribs. "So, man, you found yourself a hottie."

"Yeah, dude. I think I did." Jude replied, not taking his eyes off Rose.

"So? What are you waiting for? Ask her out!" Jonesy encouraged him.

"I dunno, bro. What if she doesn't like me?"

"What's not to like?" Jonesy clapped his friend on the shoulder and shoved him towards Rose. "Now go get 'em, tiger!" He walked over to Rose, shaking with nerves. She sent her customer off with a smile and turned to Jude.

"Hey, Jude. Did you need something?"

"Yes, I-" He panicked. "I, um, was wondering-" he grabbed the comic book off the counter she had been reading, "-If I could buy this."

"Of coarse you can. I wish I would've finished it first though, it's a good one." She typed the price into her register. "$3.18." Jude paid, mentally kicking himself for wussing out. Luckily Jonesy came to the rescue.

"Hey Rose, why don't you join me and Jude here for a movie tonight? We're renting Zombie Sleepover 2." They had made no such plans, but Jude wasn't about to complain.

"Uh, sure. I'll bring the popcorn." Rose reluctantly replied.

"Great. I'll give you the details later, I'm going on my break, see you soon." Jonesy said all in one breath, walking away, dragging Jude by the arm.

"See you later, Rose!" He managed to say, just before they turned a corner. "Dude, I knew there was a reason you're my best friend! I totally owe you one!"

"I know. And you'll owe me another when my aunt's cat dies and my whole family goes to give her support in this difficult time of need."

"Huh?"

"I'll bail so you can have some alone time with Rose!"

"Ohhhhhh! Thanks, bro!" He left Jonesy to go rent the flick for tonight. Halfway to the video store he froze, falling off his skateboard. He would be alone with Rose tonight. He had never even been on a date, never mind having a girl over to his house, much less his room! What was he supposed to do? "Caitlin." He whispered. "Caitlin will know what to do."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jude skated as fast as he could towards the food court, finding Caitlin at her normal spot in the lemon. "Caitlin! I need help, brah!" He panted.

"What is it?"

"I'm having a girl over tonight."

"Really? EEEEEEE!" Caitlin squealed, excited for her friend.

"Yeah, but I need your help. What do I do?"

"I can help, but first you have to tell me about her." Jude recounted what happened at the store for Caitlin. "Alright, first things first, you need to clean your room. I've been to your house, and I know what a pigsty that place is. Second, you need to clean yourself up. Girls appreciate when guys go out of their way to look nice for them. I'll come over before she gets there to help you."

"Thanks, dudette. I've gotta go get the movie."

"Wait!" Caitlin stopped him, "What movie are you watching?"

"Zombie Sleepover 2."

"No way. Girls hate gory movies. Get Autumn's Blush."

"But that's a chick movie!"

"Duh, that's why you're getting it. Now go get the movie, and I'll meet you here at five." Jude skated off. When he got to the video store, he picked up the chick movie, but he also got Zombie Sleepover 2 and Devil In My Mind to watch later that week. He busied himself for a few hours, reading the comic he bought and running some errands, until his phone buzzed with a text from Jonesy

From: J-Man

Rose coming over 7, ur welcome

From: Jude

Thanks bro, i owe u

From: J-Man

ya, ya, go get some!

Jude laughed at the text and checked the time, then skated lazily back over to the lemon. Caitlin wasn't there, so he took a seat. Finally, Caitlin came into view, sporting two plastic bags. "You went shopping when you were supposed to be helping me?" He asked.

"Not for me, for you!" She insisted, pulling him to the parking lot. Jude and Nikki were the only ones who had both license and car. Jude unlocked his beat up '95 Camaro and coaxed the engine to life. "Next step is cleaning this car." Caitlin said, brushing corn chips off the seat so she could sit and wrinkling her tiny nose.

Once they got to Jude's house, and after Jude had a snack, Caitlin told him to take a shower while she worked on his room. She handed him a bottle of Old Spice body wash to use. Once he got out, he wrapped himself in a towel and walked into his room. His completely different room.

The carpeting of clothes had been either folded and put away, or put in a brand new pop-up hamper Caitlin must have bought. The mountain of food wrappers had been put in a large trash bag. His CD collection, instead of being strewn across his bed and the floor, had been piled on the shelf where they belonged, most of them in their cases even. And Caitlin had done this all in the 20 minutes it taken him to shower and shave.

Caitlin picked out a plain pair of jeans for him, and a clean navy button down shirt that Jude didn't remember wearing before, though it had been in his closet. He found it itchy and uncomfortable. He shoved hit hat on and pulled on clean socks.

"Alright, now back to your room." They spent the next hour cleaning. Jude couldn't remember ever cleaning this much in his life. They vacuumed, dusted, and washed, they put new bedding on his mattress and spot cleaned the couch, they lit candles and Fabreezed everything until the room smelled of cinnamon. "Ok, it's 6:30. Remember to offer her a drink when she gets here, set out snacks and blankets, and whatever you do DON'T FART IN FRONT OF HER!" Caitlin left and Jude dutifully brought an afghan in from the living room, folding it over the side of the couch.

He sat down and twiddled his thumbs. He gulped hard and pulled at the collar of his shirt. When in doubt, eat. He walked into his kitchen where he made himself a big sandwich, and just as he was collapsing on the couch, his mother walked in the door.

"Hey, Honey. How was your day?" She asked, setting down some bags. His mom was awesome. She drove the preschool bus and other than the few hours a day that took, she was always home. She was a typical homemaker in the sense that she cooked and cleaned. But she was also an artist, and she was where Jude got his mellowness. She had grown up in California, where Jude was born. Shortly after, they moved to Canada for his fathers job. His dad was some big executive, and was out of town all the time. But it was cool with Jude, he brought back great presents and his dad was a cool guy, if a little serious. They went on vacations to Hawaii every summer where they surfed together, the one time Jude saw his dad really relax.

"Fine. I'm having a friend over to watch movies, she'll be here soon." He said, his mouth full.

"Alright. I'll be in the studio, a package of new paints came in today that I ordered. Holler if you need anything." His mom said with a knowing glance. She knew if it was any of the gang, he would have used their name instead of saying 'a friend'.

"Thanks, Mom." He was almost done with his sandwich when the doorbell rang, making him jump about a foot in the air. He quickly jumped up and opened the door. And there stood Rose, a zombie hoodie thrown over her shoulders, and a purse that looked to be made of comic strips slung on her arm. She looked just as perfect as before, turning her head to wave a car away, her parent or whoever had dropped her off. "H-Hi!" Jude stuttered.

"Hey." She replied, somewhat shyly.

"Oh, um, please come in." He opened the door wider. She stepped out of her shoes and looked around his house.

"Wow. You're house is big." She stated.

"It was left to us when my great-aunt Hattie died. She really liked my mom."

"Cool. Well, cool that you got a house, not cool that she died...," She trailed off, "So, where is Jonesy?"

"Oh. He, uh," Jude tried to recall the cover story Jonesy had fed him, "His aunts cat died, and they went to help."

"Oh. Alright." There was an awkward silence.

"Can I offer you a beverage? We've got water, milk, soda, juice..."

"Glass of water would be nice." Jude fetched it, glad to have this small chore to busy himself. "So, are we watching the movie in here?" She gestured to the den.

"No, my bedroom. There's a killer sound system."

"Lead the way." He led her to his bedroom and went for the DVD. "Wait, what are you putting in?"

"Autumns Blush. My friend Caitlin said it's good." He said, worried.

"Yeah, if you're a 12-year-old girl. Now put in the real movie." She handed him the case for Zombie Sleepover 2 which had been lying on the table. He popped it in and joined her on the couch.

"So you like horror films?"

"I get so scared, but it's so much fun. I might need a hand to hold." Jude couldn't tell if she was being friendly or flirty, so he laughed nervously and mumbled a "yeah, sure". As the previews played he started the popcorn she brought, and placed the bowl between them. "Oh, would you mind giving me my own bowl? I like to put ranch powder on my popcorn." She sheepishly asked, procuring a small plastic bag of whitish powder.

"That sounds awesome!" Jude replied. "Can I try it?" She dipped a piece in the powder and popped it in his mouth. "Mind sharing it with me?"

"No problem." She dumped the rest on the popcorn and shook it around. They munched in silence as Jude hit play. The movie went on for half an hour or so before they had drained the popcorn bowl. Jude set it on the coffee table in front of them, and Rose slid a few inches closer to him.

Jude's heart began to beat faster due to the fact that their hand were right next to each other on the couch. Was she going to hold his hand? Were his hands clammy? Rough? They were starting to sweat. Should he wipe them off, of would that be weird? His thoughts were far from the film, and just as he turned his attention back to it for a moment, a zombie burst through the door.

Jude wasn't sure who shrieked higher, him or Rose. Afterwards they both laughed. "You should have seen your face!" Rose giggled.

"Like you weren't about to pee your pants!" Jude retorted. Then, struck by a sudden braveness, Jude crossed the inch of space separating them and took hold of her hand. She responded in kind, weaving her fingers inbetween his. She didn't say anything about it as they turned their attention back to the movie. Slowly, and without Jude realizing it, Rose inched her way closer to him. Just then, another scary moment hit and she jumped, letting go of his hand. She saw that he was unsure of whether he should take it again, and she wanted to make sure he knew she liked him, so she took his arm and draped it over her shoulder, placing her small hands on his chest, and just like that, Jude was cuddling with a girl for the first time ever. And he liked it.


End file.
